Spevrnogonia and the so called Spcnnatia. \ 5 



into my culture ; in fact, Dc Vaurcal * has suggested that 

 yeast-spores are simply the spermatia of Uredines. By 

 frequent repetition the result was always the same — the 

 so-called spermatia budded in the same manner as Saccha- 

 romyces spores. Mr. A. Lister has observed the same 

 budding with the spermatia of ^cidhun albescens, of which 

 process he sent me an excellent figure made by him in 

 1873 (Plate I. Fig. 10). In 1883, I made a number of 

 cultures in which honey instead of sugar was employed ; 

 with this substance the germination is much more active 

 and prolific, the budding spores often remaining in yeast 

 colonies, attached by their ends in chains of half a dozen or 

 more. I have germinated the spermatia of the aecidio- 

 spores on Bcllis pereimis, Ranunculus bulbosus, R. ficaria. 

 Anemone coronaria, Lapsana comnmnis, and some others. 

 The older germinating spores present two nuclei of notice- 

 able size. Not only are the spores budded in linear series, 

 but also from these chains young spores are developed 

 laterally, from the point of union where two older ones 

 meet (Plate I. Figs. 12-16). This budding goes on con- 

 tinuously, but not with the same rapidity as with Saccha- 

 romyces, nor, as far as my observations go, to the complete 

 exhaustion of the saccharine material. Probably these 

 changes in the fungus are accompanied by the production 

 of alcohol, but I was unable to detect it in any of my 

 cultures. When the Uredine yeast-spore falls to the bottom 

 of the fluid, it is excluded from the air and does not further 

 change ; whereas if a small number of Saccharomyces 

 spores be placed in a saccharine fluid, they rapidly multiply 

 themselves until all the sugar disappears, while the Uredine 

 spermatial cultures, at the end of several days, retain their 

 sweet taste. Attempts to produce alcohol from brewers' 



* De Vaureal, " Schutzenberger on Fermentation" (1S76), p. 61. Inter- 

 national Scicutitic Series, vol. xx. 



